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Convergence and divergence in the evolution of transport proteins
Author(s) -
Saier Milton H.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950160104
Subject(s) - divergence (linguistics) , convergence (economics) , transmembrane protein , evolutionary biology , convergent evolution , transmembrane domain , biology , membrane protein , biophysics , computational biology , genetics , phylogenetics , gene , membrane , philosophy , linguistics , receptor , economics , economic growth
Different families of transport proteins catalyze transmembrane solute translocation, employing different mechanisms and energy sources. Several of these functionally dissimilar proteins nevertheless exhibit similar strutural units, consisting of six tightly packed α‐helices which may comprise all or part of a transmembrane channel. It is now recognized that some of these families arose independently of each other by convergence, while others arose from common precursors by divergence. The former families apparently arose at different times in evolutionary history, in different groups of organisms, employing different routes.